


Scary Campfire Stories

by KB9VCN



Category: El Hazard: The Magnificent World
Genre: Gen, Humor, One Shot, Sharing a Bed, horror?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-07-31
Updated: 2002-07-31
Packaged: 2018-09-06 16:18:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8760229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KB9VCN/pseuds/KB9VCN
Summary: Written July 2002; horror?/humor; about 1700 words.
See also Planes, Trains And Automobiles.
This contains some adult humor near the end.  Reader discretion is advised.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written July 2002; horror?/humor; about 1700 words.
> 
> See also [_Planes, Trains And Automobiles_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planes%2C_Trains_%26_Automobiles).
> 
> This contains some adult humor near the end. Reader discretion is advised.

The three priestesses of Mount Muldoon had taken advantage of a beautiful crisp autumn evening, and built a large campfire near the temple. As night fell, they continued to pass the time chatting with each other about unimportant things.

Afura had gone back to the temple for supplies. She returned to the campfire as Shayla finished telling an apparently scary campfire story to Kauru. "...and none of the survivors ever looked at a can opener the same way again." Shayla made a scary face. "Mwah ha ha ha!"

"EEEEEEEE!" said Kauru.

Afura sighed as she sat down. "Shooting fish in a barrel, eh, Shayla?"

"What!?" Shayla huffed. "I'll have you know, it takes hours of careful plotting, painstaking building of suspense, and—"

Afura rolled her eyes, and turned to Kauru. "Kauru? We're out of marshmallows."

"EEEEEEEE!" said Kauru.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny," Shayla growled. "Just because Kauru—"

Then Afura turned back to Shayla. "Shayla? We're out of beer."

"EEEEEEEE!" said Shayla.

Afura grinned. She set out a bowl of marshmallows, and tossed a bottle to Shayla. "Kidding!"

Shayla was so badly shaken that she very nearly didn't catch the bottle. "You didn't have to scare me to death to make a point!" She opened the bottle, and took a long pull to steady her nerves.

Then Shayla continued. "If you're the expert, let's hear YOU tell a scary story."

Afura grinned again. "Thought you'd never ask."

—

_Once upon a time, there was a little girl. A good little girl._

_She was so good that she was given some wonderful books. The good little girl loved her books. She read them every day, and she took such good care of them. And she got more and more books, and after a few years, she had more books than almost anyone else._

_And then, the good little girl got a new job. And she took all of her books with her, and went to live in a magical house at the top of the highest mountain in the land._

_This should have made her happy. But in fact, it made her sad, because another little girl came to live in the same house, at the same time._

_And this other little girl was a bad little girl._

_This other little girl... liked to play with fire. And only bad little girls like to play with fire._

_And the first girl had terrible fights with the other girl. The other girl said things, and did things, that made the first girl sad, and angry, and frightened._

_And every time the good little girl and the bad little girl had a big fight, the good little girl would go back to her books. She would spend hours reading her dear books, trying to forget all the terrible things the bad little girl said, and did._

_And, every night, she prayed that the bad little girl would stay away from her books when she played with fire._

_She prayed that the bad little girl would stay away from her books after they had their terrible fights._

_Because... she was scared... of the bad little girl and her fire. She was so scared that the bad little girl would play with fire near her books, and—_

—

"Aw, cut it out!" Shayla said. "You're never going to let me forget about Volume 42 of the 'Encyclopaedia Roshtaria', are you? Just because I left the safety off my lamp one single time! And I went out and bought you a new copy the very next..."

She trailed off as she looked across the campfire.

Afura had gone to embrace and console a tearful Kauru. "There, there, sweetie. It's alright. The bad little girl went away, and the good little girl lived happily ever after."

Shayla put a hand over her eyes. "Oh, for!..."

Afura smiled as she took a seat again. "Well, it came out more sad than scary. But you've got to admit, it had more emotional impact than the 'can opener of death'."

Shayla grinned maniacally. "Yeah, but just wait until you hear about the 'pencil sharpener of death'. Mwah ha ha—"

Kauru sniffled, but spoke up. "Miss Shayla? Isn't it my turn, now? That is, if you and Miss Afura don't mind..."

Shayla and Afura looked at each other. And then, they both looked at Kauru. Shayla stifled a snorted giggle, but Afura was more considerate of Kauru's feelings. "Of course, dear. I'm sorry. If you have a scary story to tell us, go ahead."

Kauru sniffled one last time, then cleared her throat, and gazed deeply into the campfire for a few moments. Then she began.

—

_Once upon a time, there was a little girl. A good little girl._

_This good little girl tried to do all the things that everyone asked of her. She tried to perform all of her duties, and she tried to be brave when she had to fight for all of her friends._

_But, though she was as dutiful and as brave as she could be, there was still one thing that scared her, so very much._

_She was scared of bugs._

_She—_

—

Kauru noticed movement from the corner of her eye, and she looked up from the campfire. Shayla had nudged Afura in the side, and stifled another giggle, as she raised her bottle of beer for another drink.

Afura scowled at Shayla. Just as Shayla began to drink, Afura suddenly reached out and gave the raised bottle a small but firm slap on the bottom.

As Shayla choked on her beer and coughed, Afura turned back and smiled sweetly. "I'm so sorry, Kauru. Go ahead."

Kauru looked at them in confusion, but then she looked back to the campfire.

—

_She was scared of bugs._

_She tried to ignore all the bugs around her, like everyone else did. But she couldn't. And she couldn't understand how everyone else could ignore them._

_She knew everyone else made fun of her, but she still couldn't help it. She couldn't ignore them._

_She tried to keep herself busy, and she concentrated on her duties as much as she could, but..._

_There were still times, late at night, when she couldn't sleep, and she thought about all the bugs..._

_Thousands of bugs... all around her..._

_Waiting..._

_Creeping. Crawling. Swarming. Closer, and closer. And closer._

_Waiting for her to fall asleep. To lie still. Waiting..._

_Waiting to crawl to her. To crawl on her. To crawl over her._

_Waiting to crawl under her clothes. In her hair. In her ears, and eyes. In her nose, and mouth._

_Waiting to crawl under her skin. To tear her flesh apart, bit by tiny bit, with razor sharp mandibles, and needle sharp stingers, and scissor sharp legs. To tear her apart. Bit by tiny bit._

_Waiting to cover her, head to foot, so that even if she woke, she could never brush them all away. They would infest her skin, and she would wake up to feel them burrowing deep into her body. And it wouldn't matter how much she screamed, how much she begged for an end to her torture. She would just scream and scream and—_

—

Kauru looked up from the campfire again. "Um, Miss Shayla? Miss Afura? Is something wrong?"

Shayla and Afura were clutching at each other in sheer terror.

"Uh— uh— Afura?" Shayla stammered. "Shuh— she's stopped, uh— telling the suh— story. Yuh— you can let go of me now."

Afura also stammered. "Yuh— you go fuh— first."

"Damn it, Afura! Yuh— you're squeezing me tighter!"

"Suh— so are you, Shayla!!"

"Can't— breathe—"

"Ribs— cracking—"

—

Afura lay in her bed, unable to sleep, clutching at her pillow much more tightly than she usually did.

Thousands of bugs... All around her...

Waiting...

She nearly jumped out of the bed at the timid knock at her door.

Shayla opened the door. "Afura?"

She came in, and smiled sheepishly as she saw Afura sitting up in her bed. "Ah. Oh boy. This is gonna sound silly, but..."

Afura looked down. "You can't sleep, either, eh?"

Shayla rubbed her neck. "Yeah. And I was wondering—"

Afura answered before she had to ask an embarrassing question. "Yeah. Climb in. I wouldn't mind the comfort myself."

Shayla grinned as she came to the bed. "I feel like such a silly little girl. Here I am, a great priestess of fire, and..."

Afura slid back. "I think Kauru took both of us by surprise."

Then Shayla grumbled as she tried to lay down. "Not a very big bed, is it?... Ouch! Mind your knee!"

"ACK-THPPFT!" Afura replied. "Get your hair out of my face! Honestly, you should try using a hair brush sometime!"

Afura and Shayla squirmed in the narrow bed until they found a reasonably comfortable "spooning" arrangement.

But then, Shayla cleared her throat. "Uh... Afura?"

And Afura sighed. "What, Shayla?"

"Where's your hand?"

"Between two pillows."

Shayla clenched her teeth. "Those! aren't! pillows!..."

"Eep!" said Afura.

The two priestesses squirmed again as they tried to find more accommodating positions.

Then Shayla cleared her throat again. "Uh... Afura?"

And Afura sighed again. "WHAT, Shayla?"

"Uh... you don't wanna... uh... do anything... do you?..."

"Shayla! Of course not! Just because I don't pine after Makoto! That is... I don't, but... well... if YOU wanted to..."

"Afura! No! Just because Alielle glomps me every time I come to the palace! That is... I don't, but... if YOU wanted to..."

"Well, yes, it's crossed my mind, but, no, it's not anything I'd ever actually DO..."

"Well, yeah, everyone wonders about it, but, yeesh, it'd be..."

"It'd make things so complicated... We're both priestesses..."

"What would Kauru think? What would Miz think? Fer cryin' out loud, what would MAKOTO think?..."

They both trailed off and lay silent for a few moments.

"Uh, well, Afura?"

"Um, yes, Shayla?"

"Let's not speak of this again."

"Yes. Let's not."

They both exhaled and relaxed. They felt each other relax, and then they both had a brief giggle fit.

Then Afura whispered. "But... You do know I love you dearly."

Shayla grinned to herself. "Yeah, I know. I love you too, you great big pain in the neck."

Afura gave her a friendly squeeze. "Good night, Sparky."

Shayla felt for one of Afura's hands, and squeezed it back. "G'night, bookworm."


End file.
